Taipei: An aggregation of around 500 demonstrators, consisting of members of the Tibetan community in Taiwan and Tibet supporters, gathered before Zhongxiao Fuxing Metro Station on 10 March to observe the 65th Tibetan National Uprising Day.

The commemoration was organised collaboratively by Tibetan Association of Taiwan and Regional Tibetan Youth Congress under the guidance of the Office of Tibet in Taiwan.

Minister of Hakka Affairs Council, Yiong Con-ziin, and Wen Lii, the head of the Democratic Progressive Party’s International Affairs Department, participated the event as its chief guests and addressed the gathering, along with Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa, Tibetan Association’s President Tashi Tsering, President of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress Kunchok Lhakpa, and Public Relation Officer of the Taiwan-based Tibetan community, Markham Choephel.

The gathering paraded peacefully towards Taipei’s 101-storey skyscraper, and the participating representatives of NGOs advocated for concerning situations inside Tibet. Along the way, the NGO members paid their respects in front of Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and performed a staged play calling on the PRC to immediately halt dam construction projects in Derge, which would otherwise submerge local Tibetan residences and treasured artefacts.

Esteemed media outlets, including Taipei Times, Taiwan News, Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, provided extensive coverage of the commemoration event, accelerating the Tibetan awareness campaign further.

On the same day, Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa participated in the online dialogue hosted by Washington-based IPK Media and Radio Free Europe to discuss Tibetan National Uprising Day. The Representative also partook in a talk session on 8 March to speak on the internationalisation of the Tibet cause, legislations adopted by various countries in support of the Tibetan freedom movement, degrading situations inside Tibet, and the policy of the Middle Way Approach for resolving the Tibet-China conflict. At the same time, the President of the Tibetan Association spoke during the session to shed light on the Tibet advocacy campaign in Taiwan.

-Report filed by OoT Taiwan